Squirrel for supper...finally.

Prior to this morning, I had squirrel hunted a few times this Fall. I can't say why, but, the squirrel numbers around here are pretty thin. Everybody's noticed.

At first light, I stalked up on a beech tree that had a hail storm of nuts hitting the ground under it. I just knew I'd found a "honey tree" loaded with a limit of tasty grays. After several minutes of observation, I located the cause of the nut storm.

A big coon was gorging itself with every beechnut within his reach. :slap: I amused myself and watched it for the next little while. I never would have dreamt how far out on a limb one would go for these tasty morsels. I swear it was stretching and reaching for all it was worth on limbs that had to be pencil thin! :shocked2: I enjoyed the show then left him to his business as I went about mine.

I've managed to scratch down two singles in my other hunts. This morning I matched the season's total with a pair of grays.

This is my favorite time of year to squirrel hunt. The leaves are just starting to turn, it's cool in the morning, but the sun warms nicely, the spider webs are disappearing, the mosquitoes are becoming a rarity, and so on.

It's so very peaceful to sit with a flintlock this time of year awaiting a foraging gray to scamper within its range. :thumbsup:

As I wrote, two will be making their way to the skillet or crock pot. The fowler is still loaded. Seeing how it's already dirty, I'd be a fool to not kill a gong or three with some roundballs before cleaning her up. That's my plan for this afternoon.

Hope you all are well and enjoying your October too!

Best regards, Skychief

I enjoyed your hunt and your nature walk, thanks for sharing. Here are your squirrels:



Neat about the raccoon, never saw one doing any such thing. They visit my house occasionally, I like to watch them.
Once on a deer hunt I was sitting near an osage orange tree loaded with oranges, and a gray squirrel was trying to collect one, to eat, I guess. It reached down and grabbed one, then bit the stem off and tried to pull it up. It was way too heavy, and began to stretch that squirrel out like a rubber band. When it got about a yard long it couldn't hold on any longer, let go and recovered itself to its limb.
On another deer hunt I climbed a little tree for an improvised stand, it was standing on the bank of a small stream with a nice pool. A mink came along and spent 45 minutes catching crayfish and eating them on a small log in the edge of the pool directly below me.

There's a lot more to hunting than killing stuff, for me. That's even more true as I get older.

Spence

George said:

There's a lot more to hunting than killing stuff, for me. That's even more true as I get older.

Spence

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Amen compadre. I've deliberately sat with an unfired gun just to watch the antics. Critters can be immensely entertaining! :wink:

Amen to that. I was in my treestand Thursday evening, longbow in hand when I heard a strange sound. It became two strange sounds at the same time, which became two strange sounds on the move, like children playing coyote. Then I spot commotion in a tree 30 yards away, and all of a sudden, two barred owls flew straight at me, one following the other closely, they flew right under my feet, maybe a foot and a half away. They messed around in another tree to my right, then came circling around me from behind and around my left shoulder an arms reach away, flew straight away not to be seen or heard the rest of the evening.

As I sit now, I have the wrong weapon with me. I'm in another treestand, longbow with me. There's at least 6, probably more, grey squirrels doing squirrel stuff all around me at any given minute for the past 3 hours.

Spence, thanks much for the help. Thanks too for the squirrel and mink stories. I agree with you.

I could see that squirrel gettin stretched like a rubber band. :haha:

Best regards, Skychief

Grand times all :hatsoff:

B.

Squirrel season hear in south Louisiana started Oct. 7th. Due to work, mosquitoes, and hurricane warnings, I haven't made it into the swamp yet. A cool front is making it's way down this week. Hopefully I will smoke a couple squirrels with my fusil.

Good luck fistmel. With a handle like that, I'll bet you'll have a longbow or recurve in your hands this season too. :thumbsup:

Best regards, Skychief

I went squirrel hunting yesterday for the first time with my new .40 TN rifle. I was moving too fast, deer scouting and checking out the acorn crop.

I saw one squirrel tail flick behind a tree and not one other living creature, pretty unusual for where I hunt.

I went up on a ridge to look at a food plot I planted but never came back to check. The dang hogs had completely destroyed the plot. I had seen some minor sign of them in the past but this is the first year they have done any serious damage. Their rooting is very obvious this year. I have never seen or heard one on the property so far.

Been shooting recurves,longbows and charcoal burners since I was a kid. My old worn out shoulder has reduced the bow hunting somewhat, but not the muzzle loader. Got my first bow when I was 10 and first muzzle loader at 13. Been hooked ever since.

Years ago while squirrel hunting with my .36, I observed a pair of coons up a tree nibbling around. You did well with those two.

I see more deer at close range when I'm squirrel hunting than squirrel and vise versa!

Just took my son on a trip to Missouri to squirrel hunt with my .32 and his smooth bore . . .both are somewhat new to us. Had a great time, but came home squirrel-less . . saw quite a few greys, but none held still long enough for me. . . . my son took a shot with his smooth bore, but I was watching the squirrel so much that I mis-advised him . . . the squirrel stopped and gave him a good shot, but I had not noticed his distance had grown too far for the cylinder bore. It's always a learning experience, but just great to be in the woods. . .

Congrats on filling the dinner pot. :thumbsup:

The squirrels are down the last two years on the property I hunt. Mast failure last year drove them out almost entirely and even though we have acorns this year, it may take a while for them to come back and discover them in the quantities that were once there.

that's true. your priorities changes as you get older. last year was squirrel hunting, just watching chipmunks scampering about, when suddenly a chipmunk started running towards me with a weasel hot on his tail. The weasel suddenly saw me, made a quick about face and scampered away. never thought I would save a chipmunk. didn't harvest anything but it was still a nice day in the woods.

Two or three seasons back I had what must certainly qualify as the season to end all seasons. Briefly, I ****** off a squirrel I came to call Yodels since he spend days I was out there chattering from every bush or tree he could get to to announce my unwanted presence. At first it was irritating but became comical. The last day he wasn't around and I was up my usual tree when acorns began to drop around me at odd intervals. One bounced off the fowler's barrel and I looked up...there he was above me holding another acorn. I totally lost it! Luckily I didn't fall out of the tree laughing. In all honesty, I created the monster by discharging the gun before I left the first day against a large oak trunk he was hiding behind. He did a back flip to the ground and raced off in a rooster-tail of leaf chunks...so I guess I have to take credit or at least responsibility for Yodel's behavior. Every other squirrel I've seen was reclusive...not that lunatic!

The whole season bordered on the bizarre. I saw many deer, always just outside range. One small 4-pointer got close enough for a shot but the ball deflected down and sprayed his belly with dirt an debris...he may still be running. I saw a huge Texas bobcat, a Blackbuck who'd escaped the exotic animal ranch nearby and a squirrel bombardier! Missed one on a ricochet, got caught in the open with the fowler on my shoulder by another and nearly froze off body parts when a norther came through. All in all, a season for the ages. The past two years I've snuck back on the property, it's no longer available as a hunting lease, and left gifts of cracked pecans for Yodels..least I could do! :wink: :haha:

I can't say why, but, the squirrel numbers around here are pretty thin. Everybody's noticed.

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Same here Chief, have been for several years. I had begun to think it was just me but I ran into a locally notable BP squirrel hunter who started traveling to my neck of the wood to hunt them and he told me he was getting skunked almost every trip and had never seen so few squirrels in his life.

I am hoping for a better year this year. by the way your ack basswards wads were just what my TVM smoothbore needed, many thanks for sharing.

creek

I have only been high (9K ftup) and low (5K ft) so far this year. High I have seen mighty few bushy tailed bushy tails but tons of lil bitty tree rats pop used to bring home in deer season. Low nuttin. I plan to get the dog out after em this weekend in the mid range where i will hunt deer and hope they are plentiful. Seems like I see em squished on the road more than usual this year everywhere?

Creek said:

I can't say why, but, the squirrel numbers around here are pretty thin. Everybody's noticed.

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Same here Chief, have been for several years. I had begun to think it was just me but I ran into a locally notable BP squirrel hunter who started traveling to my neck of the wood to hunt them and he told me he was getting skunked almost every trip and had never seen so few squirrels in his life.

I am hoping for a better year this year. by the way your ack basswards wads were just what my TVM smoothbore needed, many thanks for sharing.

creek

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Hey Creek, glad to hear the ack basswards Skychief Special works so well for you. :thumbsup:

If I could order up a better squirrel population for you, I would. That load has got it bad for squirrel! Turkeys too. Good luck and thanks.

Best regards, Skychief